The Choice of Communication Channels to Recruit Students

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The Choice of Communication Channels to Recruit
Students

Aryna Dzmitryieva Yanka Kupala State University
of Hrodna, 11.12.2006
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The Goals of enrollment

• The pre-enrollment campaign is one of the most
  important communication campaign of university.
  Its results influence both on quantity and
  quality of students enrolled.
• The university is interested in recruiting the
  most talented, prepared and motivated students.

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Educational market

• Raising competition in educational market. Two
  new state universities were opened last few years
  in western part of Belarus
• Negative demographic tendency

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Demography
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Strategy

• Any successful Public Relation campaign implies
  four steps
• Research
• Action
• Communication
• Evaluation

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Research

• Who is our audience?
• Why do students choose our university?
• Who influence their choice?
• Where do they receive necessary information?

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Who is our audience?
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Motivation
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Motives by students origin
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Trends

• Besides acquisition of profession two different
  tendencies could be found
• For enrollees from Grodno-city and Grodno region
  the most influential factors are
• - proximity to parents house
• - good knowledge about the university
• For enrollees from other parts of Belarus
• - comparatively low competition

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Segmentation of students by motivation
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Bernard Goldbach (Tipperary Institute, Ireland)

• Parents play a key role in the educational
  process.
• School staffs must be brought into PR loops.
• Business-education partnerships can be effective.

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Stakeholders (target audience)

• 1. Parents play an important role in the
  educational process
• Further analysis shows that their role is
• - to inform enrollees about the faculties
• - to help them to go through complicated
  enrollment procedure
• Informative, influential

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Target audience

• 2. Current university students and employees.
• Their role is
• - to create image of university in general
• - to provide insider information on faculties.
• More influential, less informative

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Target audience

• 3. Teachers at school
• Their role is
• - to involve school-children in science
• - to inform about special events (such as subject
  competitions) at university
• Informative and influential

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Evaluation of mass-media and Internet
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Target Audiences
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Tactics (1)

• Speaking events to enhance parents and
  school-leavers (Open-door days, meetings with
  parents)
• Subject Olympiad for school-leavers (to create
  interest to Science in Uni)
• Competition and conferences for school teachers
  (to increase their competence and interests to
  university)

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Tactics (2)

• Internal Public relations (to improve image among
  university insiders)
• Develop website as an important source of
  information for target audiences. Make it
  interactive to provide an easy way for target
  audiences to get in touch with university

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• Thank you!